Hard hat adapter

ABSTRACT

An adapter for mounting a face shield on a hard hat self-centers and aligns itself with respect to the hard hat brim. An arcuate main body has an arcuate guard portion that extends over the hard hat brim. A central retention tab engages the front edge of the hard hat brim. Opposing guide channels engage the side edges of the hard hat brim and limit rotation of the main body with respect to the hard hat. Cantilever springs within the guide channels engage the side edges of the hard hat brim to self-center the brim with respect to the main body. A retention member extending around the back of the hard hat secures the main body to the hard hat. A face shield mounting bracket is pivotally mounted to the main body portion and supports a face shield. A clutching mechanism helps control the orientation of the face shield.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to a hard hat adapter that allows a user to releasably mount a face shield on a hard hat.

Current head gear products are generally hard hat specific, meaning they do not universally fit a variety of different size and shape hard hats. Often, a user must acquire a specific hard hat adapter that is configured for mounting a face shield on a specific hard hat.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to an improved adapter for mounting a face shield to a hard hat where the adapter universally fits to most hard hats. The adapter includes a pivot that allows the user to pivot the face shield to a lowered position in front of the user's face and to pivot the face shield to a raised position away from the user's face. The hard hat adapter is self-centering and self-aligning with respect to the hard hat.

A universal hard hat adapter is provided for mounting a face shield on plurality of commonly used hard hats. The present hard hat adapter includes a main body that is configured for mounting on a hard hat. The main body is substantially arcuate to generally follow the curvature of commonly used hard hat brims, and has a first end and a second end. The hard hat adapter further includes an arcuate guard portion that extends inwardly from the main body and is configured to extend over the brim of the hard hat when the hard hat adapter is mounted on the hard hat. In this regard, the arcuate guard portion overlaps with the brim so that the arcuate guard portion and the brim cooperate to substantially prevent debris from falling between the main body and the brim of the hard hat on which the adapter is mounted.

To secure the hard hat adapter to a hard hat and to help align the hard hat adapter on the hard hat, a central retention tab extends from a lower surface of the main body. The central retention tab is configured and arranged to engage a forward edge of the brim of the hard hat. The adapter further includes opposing inwardly facing guide channels that extend inwardly from a lower surface of the main body. The guide channels receive the hard hat brim between upper and lower guide channel surfaces, and further limit rotation of the main body with respect to the hard hat when the hard hat adapter is mounted on a hard hat.

To center the hard hat adapter on the hard hat, the adapter includes opposing cantilever springs secured within the opposing guide channels of the hard hat adapter. Each cantilever spring has a free moving end that engages a side edge of the brim of the hard hat and centers the brim relative to the adapter.

To further secure the hard hat adapter to the hard hat, a retention member is provided. In the exemplary embodiment, the retention member is preferably a spring, such as a coil spring, that has a first end secured to a first end of the main body and a second end secured to a second end of the main body. The coil spring can be extended around the rear of the hard hat, to maintain sufficiently firm engagement of the hard hat adapter with the hard hat. Other retention members are possible. For example, the retention member could be other types of springs, an elastic band, or a clip.

The hard hat adapter further includes a pivoting face shield mounting bracket that supports a face shield in front of a user's face when a user is wearing the hard hat and adapter. The face shield is removably mounted on the mounting bracket to permit replacement of the face shield when needed. The face shield mounting bracket is rotatably coupled to the main body, and is pivotable with respect to the main body. More specifically, the face shield mounting bracket can be pivoted between a lowered orientation (“down” position) where the face shield is positioned in front of the user's face, and a raised orientation (“up” position) where the face shield is positioned up and away from the user's face.

The hard hat adapter still further includes a clutching mechanism that rotatably or pivotably couples the mounting bracket to the main body. The clutching mechanism includes a plurality of angularly spaced interlocking detents that enables the mounting bracket to be conditionally stable in various orientations with respect to the main body. This allows the mounting bracket to be releasably fixed in the lowered orientation or the raised orientation, as well as a plurality of additional angular positions, until the user causes the mounting bracket to move. The clutching mechanism may be made of metal or another material.

The face shield mounting bracket and the main body are configured so that there is no gap between the face shield mounting bracket and the main body when the face shield mounting bracket is in the lowered orientation and the hard hat adapter is viewed from above. This substantially prevents debris from falling between the face shield mounting bracket and the main body of the hard hat adapter. The face shield mounting bracket preferably has an upper mounting bracket portion that extends over a part of the main body when the mounting bracket is in the lowered position. This helps to ensure that there is no gap between the upper mounting bracket and the main body.

The hard hat adapter can be provided to a user with a face shield mounted on the hard hat adapter. Alternatively, the hard hat adapter can be provided to a user without a face shield, allowing a user to attach a face shield to the hard hat adapter according to the user's preferences.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An exemplary embodiment will now be described further by way of example with reference to the following examples and figures, which are intended to be illustrative only and in no way limiting upon the scope of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the hard hat adapter and a hard hat;

FIG. 2 is a perspective of the exemplary hard hat adapter secured to the hard hat;

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the exemplary hard hat adapter;

FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view thereof;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view of a cantilever spring within the guide channel;

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the hard hat adapter with the mounting bracket in a lowered orientation;

FIG. 7B is a perspective view thereof, with the mounting bracket in a raised orientation; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged side view of a clutching mechanism of the exemplary embodiment of the hard hat adapter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings, an exemplary embodiment of the hard hat adapter of the present disclosure is illustrated and generally indicated at 10 in FIGS. 1-8. As will hereinafter be more fully described, the instant hard hat adapter 10 allows a user to selectively mount a face shield 12 to a hard hat 14 which may have a range of dimensions.

The hard hat adapter 10 of the present disclosure has an arcuate main body 16 that is secured to the hard hat 14 and has a face shield mounting bracket 18 rotatably coupled to the main body 16 for supporting the face shield 12. A central mounting tab 20 and opposing guide channels 22A, 22B on the main body 16 of the hard hat adapter 10 facilitate alignment of the hard hat adapter 10 with the hard hat 14, so that the face shield 12 secured to the hard hat adapter 10 is positioned substantially in front of a user's face when the user wears the hard hat 14. Cantilever springs 24A, 24B on the hard hat adapter 10 engage the brim 26 of the hard hat 14 and facilitate alignment and centering of the hard hat adapter 10 with respect to the hard hat 14.

The main body 16 of the hard hat adapter 10 is substantially arcuate having a first end that is configured to extend to one side of the hard hat 14, and a second end that is configured to extend to a second side of the hard hat 14. This is best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, where the adapter 10 has been mounted on the hard hat 14.

To substantially or entirely prevent debris from falling between the main body 16 and the brim 26 of the hard hat 14, an arcuate guard portion 28 formed on the main body 16 extends inwardly from the main body 16. FIGS. 2 and 3 show how the arcuate guard portion 28 extends sufficiently horizontally inwardly so that the hard hat brim 26 is underneath the arcuate guard portion 28 from a point on the left side of the hard hat 14, around the front of the hard hat 14, and to a point on the right side of the hard hat 14. The arcuate guard portion 28 does not need to follow a specific contour of a forward edge of a brim 26 of a hard hat 14 because the arcuate guard portion 28 is configured to extend over the forward edge of the brim 26 of the hard hat 14.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the forward edge of the brim 26 of the hard hat 14 is received in the central mounting tab 20 that extends from a lower surface of the guard portion 28. The central mounting tab 20 is configured and arranged to engage a forward edge of the brim 26 of a typical hard hat so that the central mounting tab 20 limits movement of the main body 16 with respect to the hard hat 14. The central mounting tab 20 has a horizontally extending portion that has an upper surface that is below the hard hat brim 26. The arcuate guard portion 28 of the main body 16 has a lower surface that is above the hard hat brim 26. Together these surfaces limit the movement of the hard hat 14 with respect to the main body 16 of the hard hat adapter 10.

Referring now to FIGS. 4-7B, the adapter further includes inwardly facing opposing guide channels 22A, 22B which extend inwardly from a lower surface of the main body 16. Each guide channel 22A, 22B receives a side edge portion of the hard hat brim 26 to limit rotation of the hard hat adapter 10 with respect to the hard hat 14.

To center the hard hat adapter 10 on the hard hat 14, the adapter 10 includes opposing cantilever springs 24A, 24B secured within the guide channels 22A, 22B and extending inwardly from the main body 16 so that, when the user mounts the hard hat adapter 10 to a hard hat 14, the hard hat adapter 10 automatically centers itself with respect to the hard hat 14. Each cantilever spring 24A, 24B has an anchor end that is secured to a wall of the respective guide channel 22A, 22B and a free moving end extending inwardly from the guide channel that engages the side edge of the hard hat brim. The free moving end of each cantilever spring 24A, 24B frictionally engages and centers the brim 26 of the hard hat 14 with respect to the main body 16. The deflection of the cantilever springs 24A, 24B is determined by the outer width of the hard hat brim 26. Narrower hard hats 14 will cause the cantilever springs 24A, 24B to deflect less, and wider hard hats 14 will cause the cantilever springs 24A, 24B to deflect more. The left and right cantilever springs 24 a, 24B are configured to have substantially identical force-deflection characteristics. When the hard hat adapter 10 is mounted on a hard hat 14, the forces on the left and right cantilever springs 24A, 24B will substantially balance, so that the left and right springs 24A, 24B are deflected substantially the same amount, and the hard hat 14 is therefore substantially centered with respect to the hard hat adapter 10.

To mount the hard hat adapter 10 on the hard hat 14, a user simply slides the hard hat 14 into the central mounting tab 20 of the main body 16, so the forward edge of the hard hat brim 26 is entirely under the arcuate guard portion 28 and captured in the retention tab 20, and then secures a retention member 30 around the rear of the hard hat 14. The retention member 30 of the exemplary embodiment is illustrated as a coil spring having first and second ends, which are respectively secured to first and second ends of the main body 16. The retention member 30 extends around the rear of the hard hat 14 to maintain the brim 26 of the hard hat 14 in secure engagement with the central mounting tab 20. While a coil spring 30 is illustrated, other types of retention members, such as other springs, elastic bands or clips, are contemplated without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the hard hat adapter has a face shield mounting bracket 18 that is capable of supporting a face shield 12 in front of the hard hat 14 to protect the face of a user wearing the hard hat 14. The face shield mounting bracket 18 is arcuate in shape and is pivotably coupled to the main body by a clutch mechanism 32. The rotatable clutch mechanism 32 allows the face shield mounting bracket 18 to be pivoted back and forth between a lowered orientation (FIGS. 1-3, 7A) and a raised orientation (FIG. 7B). The face shield mounting bracket 18 and the main body 16 are configured and arranged so there is no gap between the face shield mounting bracket 18 and the main body 16. In this regard, the bracket 18 includes an inwardly extending flange portion 34 which extends over the guard portion 28. This is evident when the hard hat adapter 10 is viewed from above (FIG. 2) and the face shield mounting bracket 18 is in the lowered orientation (FIGS. 1-5 and 7A). The flange 34 overlaps the guard portion 28 and substantially prevents debris from falling between the face shield mounting bracket 18 and the main body 16. FIGS. 5 and 7A best show how there is no gap between the main body 16 and the mounting bracket 18 when the mounting bracket 18 is in the lowered orientation and viewed from above or below.

The face shield mounting bracket 18 is pivotably coupled to the main body by a clutching mechanism 32 having a plurality of angularly spaced interlocking detents 36 (see FIG. 8). The clutching mechanism 32 thus allows the mounting bracket to be fixed in more than one position relative to the main body 16. This allows a user to rotate the mounting bracket 18 up or down to a desired orientation with respect to the main body 16, and leave it in that orientation. FIGS. 7A and 7B show the bracket 18 in a lowered orientation and a raised orientation, respectively. When the user desires to move the mounting bracket 18 to a specific orientation, the user simply applies a force to the mounting bracket 18 to overcome the frictional force of the clutching mechanism 32. The clutching mechanism 32 is preferably made of metal, but other materials are within the scope of the present disclosure.

The face shield 12 is removably mounted on the hard hat adapter by conventional known interfitting mounting components 38 so that the face shield 12 is interchangeable and replaceable by the user.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the hard hat adapter, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An adapter for mounting a face shield on a hard hat, the adapter comprising: an arcuate main body having a first end and a second end; an arcuate guard portion extending inwardly from the main body, the guard portion being configured to extend over a brim of a hard hat when the main body is mounted on a hard hat, said guard portion substantially preventing debris from falling between the main body and the brim of the hard hat; a central retention tab extending from a lower surface of the main body, said retention tab being configured and arranged to engage a forward edge of the brim of the hard hat; an adjustable retention member having a first end secured to the first end of the main body, and a second end being secured to the second end of the main body, the retention member extending around a rear portion of the hard hat when the main body engages the brim of the hard hat; opposing, inwardly facing guide channels extending from a lower surface of said main body, opposing cantilever springs respectively disposed within said opposing guide channels, each having an anchor end secured within said guide channel and further having a free moving end extending inwardly therefrom, said free moving end engaging a side edge of the brim of the hard hat for frictionally retaining and centering the brim of the hard hat with respect to the main body; and a face shield mounting bracket being pivotably coupled to the main body, said face shield mounting bracket being rotatable between a lowered orientation and a raised orientation, wherein the face shield mounting bracket and the main body are configured and arranged so that there is no gap between the face shield mounting bracket and the main body when the face shield mounting bracket is in the lowered orientation, to substantially prevent debris from falling between the face shield mounting bracket and the main body.
 2. The hard hat adapter of claim 1, wherein the retention member is one of a spring, a rubber band, and a clip.
 3. The hard hat adapter of claim 1, wherein the face shield mounting bracket has an upper mounting bracket portion that extends over at least a part of the main body when the mounting bracket is in the lowered orientation.
 4. The hard hat adapter of claim 1, wherein the face shield mounting bracket is pivotably coupled to the main body by a clutching mechanism.
 5. The hard hat adapter of claim 4, wherein the clutching mechanism is made of metal. 